Kenilworth farmer ‘very pleased’ nearby trees now protected

Sam Jackson

A Kenilworth farmer is ‘very pleased’ threatened trees near his farm in a rural part of Kenilworth have been given an extra layer of protection.

Ray Tebby, who owns Rouncil Farm in Rouncil Lane, was concerned around 50 marked trees on the north side of the lane running west to Roundshill Farm could be cut down.

But Warwick District Council has now issued a group Tree Preservation Order (TPO) to 161 trees in that area. This means anyone wishing to fell or alter the trees must get council permission first or face a heavy fine.

Mr Tebby said: “I’m very pleased. It’s obvious the council was concerned, it doesn’t give out TPOs lightly.

“Now those trees will be here when we’ve gone - they last for hundreds of years.

“Rouncil Lane wouldn’t have been the same if they had cut that lot down.”

Warwickshire county councillor Alan Cockburn, who leases the land where the trees are, said his landlords had previously commissioned a survey of the site, and found 46 trees in need of work to be made safe, including the removal of branches and felling in some cases.

His landlords were planning to apply for a licence from the Forestry Commission to do the work.

But the marked trees prompted Mr Tebby to issue notices to nearby residents and walkers they were all set to be cut down. The district council then confirmed that was not going to happen.

However, after a tree surveyor visited the site on Friday August 18, the council decided to issue a group TPO on the trees and many others.